FAQ and SEO. How Does the FAQ Section Affect SEO?

FAQ section – what is it?

Before we start discussing the impact of FAQ on SEO, it’s worth determining what this section actually is.

Here, the page author lists the most common questions that bother customers and offers answers to these questions.

FAQ vs. Q&A – are they the same?

Q&A, or Question and Answer, may be associated with the abovementioned FAQ acronym. However, these terms aren’t interchangeable.

FAQ and SEO – why is it worth creating the FAQ section?

The main function of the FAQ section is to inform customers about the details of offered products and services. This page part is supposed to resolve consumer doubts (about product features, the way of placing orders, or simply the type of offered assortment), without the need to involve third parties. Therefore, it’s a useful website element and great support for the Customer Service office.

The FAQ section is intended to provide direct answers to questions asked before placing an order. These questions are answered by consultants, office staff, or sales representatives. Clearly formulated, factual content included in this section increases customer’s trust towards a given brand and enhances the likelihood of a purchase.

Moreover, FAQs are a great way to save a lot of resources – instead of constantly answering phone calls from customers or replying to emails, employees can do other tasks at that time.

How does the FAQ section affect your website’s SEO?

What do FAQs and SEO have in common? Does the Frequently Asked Questions section has any impact on the website’s SEO? Absolutely! Similar to other content published on the page, FAQs may be used to improve your website position in the search results.

When talking about FAQ, it’s important to note that Google supports the so-called rich snippets. Other standard SEO rules that we apply when publishing any website content (optimization, meta tags, images in line with SEO, internal links) are also relevant. FAQs combined with published blog posts and tutorials can improve your page navigation, support SEO, increase website traffic and conversion rate.

How does the FAQ section affect your website’s SEO?

Provided answers together with asked questions may be displayed to users already at the stage of browsing the search results – in the so-called rich snippets. Additionally. FAQs introduced in the form of rich snippets can influence voice SEO and be delivered to people using voice search. In both cases, you can boost your website position (by reaching the so-called 0 positions over Google Ads and other search results) and generate new organic traffic which translates into obtaining new potential customers interested in a given product/service.

Of course, if a website doesn’t comply with Google guidelines and profits from black hat SEO techniques (e.g keyword stuffing in rich snippets), FAQ SEO may not be effective. The worst-case scenario is that Google may disable rich snippets for a given website or even punish its administrator with a manual filter. When doing SEO for the FAQ section, follow the guidelines for webmasters sent by Google to the e-mail address associated with your Google Search Console account.

How to prepare a quality FAQ section?

Every FAQ section is unique, depending on the industry, product, and service range, or target group. It’s a place for carefully selected questions frequently asked by Internet users and clear, understandable answers (written in a non-specialist and non-technical language). Both questions and answers should be published by the authors of the site, otherwise, they’re only Q&As, not FAQs.

Topics that are the most important for customers can be identified in a number of ways. It’s enough to:

• analyze questions regarding a given service/brand / product/industry asked on forums,
• monitor social media comments concerning the service/brand / product,
• note the most frequently asked questions from emails/communication messages and phone calls,
• create a website form for customers so that they can ask questions,
• ask customer service specialists about the most common questions.

Commonly asked customers’ questions can be found on sites like Quora and Reddit. However, that’s not the end. A quality FAQ section should not only resolve popular doubts but also support the SEO process. How to prepare a quality FAQ section that balances the above-mentioned factors? Keep reading.

SEO and FAQ sections – how to prepare frequently asked questions that will support your website’s SEO?

Key phrases in FAQs

The FAQ section is a website element with huge SEO potential. Here, you can find highlighted questions that contain keywords important for a given industry. How to optimize the FAQ section to ensure that it’s in line with SEO principles?

To start with, it’s worth analyzing the most frequently typed phrases – questions about the product / service / industry. For this purpose, you can benefit from Google Keyword Planner or other SEO tools for keyword analysis. Recommended free solutions include: Rank Tracker, Answer the Public, Text Optimizer and Kparser generator.

Content optimization in line with SEO principles

Once key phrases are determined, you can introduce service or product questions to the FAQ section. Of course, it’s crucial to remember about proper formatting – the table of contents and division into categories if there are numerous questions. If you want to highlight important keywords, use the <strong> tag to make them bold, and <em> to make them italic – this way you indicate the most important content.

To make the text-friendly not only for Google robots but also for readers, it’s very important to divide it with headings (in an appropriate hierarchy), lists or bullet points – this way the reader is able to easily find interesting information.

To ensure that the FAQ content is valuable, it’s necessary to do good research and delve into each topic that may bother the reader. Key thoughts can be bolded (with the <b> tag) or italicized (with the <i> tag); internal linking is also important – if eshop terms, entries devoted to a given issue or an official instruction (e.g. on ordering products) has already been published on your website, refer FAQ users to these sources for further information.

Structured data of the FAQ section

Google has recently enabled the implementation of structured FAQ Page data on websites. These tags are meant to help search engine robots to understand the content of the FAQ section and thus make it easier for users to find interesting content – answers to their questions. Correctly implemented structured data can improve website visibility, because the answers in the FAQs may be displayed to users browsing the net, in rich snippets.

Additionally, the FAQ Page can also be used by Google Assistant, thus influencing voice search. According to Google, as many as 1/5 of Internet users browse the net this way!

How to implement the FAQ page on your website?

To implement the FAQ page on your website, simply add the appropriate code to the <head></head> section on the selected subpage. To do this, use The FAQ Page Schema Generator, Google’s Data Marker, or benefit from a free Header & Footer Scripts plugin if you use WordPress.

It’s possible to implement structured data with Yoast SEO thanks to Yoast’s Structured Data Blocks feature. Then, when the page modifications are indexed, you can check their accuracy with Google Search Console. To see if your FAQ page is deployed correctly, you can also use Google’s structured data testing tool.

FAQ vs. SEO – the most common mistakes

Below you can see the most common mistakes done when creating FAQ sections. It’s worth working on them before you move on to implementing this page.

Ads in the FAQ section

What to avoid when talking about SEO and FAQ sections? You definitely shouldn’t place intrusive ads in the FAQs. The purpose of the section is to provide specific answers to questions, and not to advertise a particular product or service. Of course, you can include internal links to valuable content – if you link to a previously published guide or insert a link to a page where users can download an instruction, it’s perfectly acceptable.

Unmonitored activities

Lack of monitoring of implemented activities is an equally common mistake. Creating an extensive FAQ section doesn’t mean that all your work is done. It’s necessary to constantly monitor the needs of customers and supplement this section with new issues. Follow readers’ comments and, if possible, communicate with users who benefit from your services to make sure that your FAQ section provides clear and comprehensive answers on a given topic.

Incorrect use of FAQs

To make sure that the FAQ section supports the SEO of your website, it’s essential to implement it correctly. According to the Mountain View giant, FAQs should always be prepared by the authors of a given website and contain only questions and answers added by the authors. When FAQs take the form of a forum where users can post their own questions and answers, it means that they don’t serve their purpose.

Incorrect answers

Once you have taken care of all the elements mentioned above, it’s still crucial to check answers before you publish them. They should be concise, precise, factual and written in an understandable language so that they resolve all customers’ doubts.

A properly implemented and SEO-compliant FAQ section is an investment that can increase customer loyalty and website visibility in the organic search results. Moreover, it’s also a great source of additional traffic. A well-structured FAQ will also help you save your Customer Service specialists’ time. Instead of answering the same questions over and over again, they’ll be able to focus on solving profound problems faced by customers.